Questions, meanwhile, are also surrounding Treasury officials and lawmakers for political maneuvering that effectively authorized the executive bonuses with the passage of the stimulus bill last month. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden says he introduced a provision that would have forced bailout recipients to cap bonuses at $100,000 and tax those exceeding it at 35 percent. The measure passed through the Senate but was inexplicably removed during talks with the House. Meanwhile, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Christopher Dodd, is claiming he inserted a provision protecting contractually promised bonuses at the request of the Obama administration. Dodd didn’t name the administration officials who told him to insert the provision. He says he wouldn’t have done so had he known it would have allowed the bonuses at AIG.